Polluter pays

An amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill was debated by CABE Patron the Earl of Lytton in the House of Lords in April. The Polluter Pays Amendment will provide added protection to property owners who have discovered their buildings were not constructed to regulation standards and are not only living in potentially unsafe conditions, but also facing high remediation costs.

The Building Safety Act of 2022 currently provides leaseholders with varying degrees of statutory protection from the costs of cladding and non-cladding remediation and interim safety measures such as waking watches.

However, many leaseholders still receive little or no protection from non-cladding remediation costs. The amendment would make either the builder or developer pay in full if found by the government to have breached building regulations at the time of construction, or fund via a wide construction industry levy if they cannot pay.

The Earl of Lytton said: “The simple truth is the government does not have the money to solve the problem and is at present unprepared to place the responsibility on the wealthy construction industry that has created this over decades of marking its own homework. The proposals I am advancing would resolve this.” 

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